With thanks to Tim McCleerey, Allen Brookshire, Lynn Cohen, and Anita Madson for their continued support and helpful inputs.

I've mentioned that space travel, unless you are in imminent danger of death, is boring.

War is, too.

Weeks pass without invasion, attack, death of friends. We fill them with everyday tasks, but also with worry and planning to prevent further depredations.

It has been a Lunar month since an assassin broke into the Lian Embassy and murdered my Guardian. We have spent that time turning the Embassy into a fortress.

We've installed an elevator into the broom closet under the staircase to Clmntr's apartment. I had actually lobbied for the elevator to be in the broom closet under the staircase to MY apartment - access would then be from the Embassy entryway. But the Gilgot firmly vetoed that idea: it would be a second entrance to the basement. One of the reasons we are now living and working in the basement is that it has only ONE entrance that must be guarded.

Yes, the Gilgot are now running our lives...

And we are glad for them...

I guess...

This new elevator greatly improves access to our new quarters in the Embassy basement. Lt. Forbes, a large man, would always have trouble bending over double to squeeze through the hidden door leading to the staircase. Yaeyeia has a mechanism to propel her wheeled pot up and down stairs, but it is slow and always makes me nervous she might tip over. Her Aide would carry her down to the bottom of the stairs and then hurry back upstairs to avoid my Gilgot Guardian at the basement door. And the Delitrian Ambassador, being ten-foot tall, would have to crawl downstairs on his stomach, not appropriate for such a dignified being.

Beyond having only one door, an additional advantage of the basement in our attempt to assassin-proof our Offices and quarters is that it has no plumbing, and hence no access for a dweebel-size assassin. But, of course, this means that the basement (where we are living) HAS NO PLUMBING! A distinct disadvantage in a residence. Or an office.

We had been using Clmntr's facilities in her apartment up two flights of stairs. It was a nuisance; the Gilgot found it unnervingly dangerous and had to accompany us on our trek, checking the facilities before allowing us in, and Clmntr wasn't thrilled about having everyone running in and out of her apartment all the time. Now we've installed a bathroom in the landing just outside our basement door. Before any Uralian uses it, my Guardian checks to make sure no assassin is lurking there.

Initially I repurposed my motion detector for the bathroom and set it for "diameter less than 4 inches" figuring that would detect anything that could travel through pipes. Unfortunately, there are all kinds of pests and vermin that fit this category but are not assassins. The alarm was always going off as a gnat flitted through or a cockroach scampered past. The motion detector has been retired for the moment.

The landing outside our door is now quite constricted. Clmntr insists it is "cozy."

Our basement is not "cozy." When it is filled with dozens of beings, it is pleasant. At night, when it is just Clmntr, Kitty, maybe Lnbršr, and me it's a little cool. Reminds me a bit of Lia4. Anyway, I'm glad I have feathers, and that Kitty sleeps on my feet.

So, the Embassy has been a bedlam of construction for the past month. But, since Wan blasted our previous assassin, and the Gilgot assigned a Front Door Guard and a Garage Door Guard, we haven't had any further infiltrations.

That we know of.

Anyway, I'm not dead.

We've also been doing some research. Lnbršr and the security officers on XC4702 have found that the "suspicious Uralian" that Jnysf had spotted on the station was an elderly LIAN passenger on an all-expenses paid Supramian Galactic Tour. Not an assassin after all. Still, it is better to be cautious and alive than trusting and dead.

Apparently Uralians DID come to Akher about a month after my kids and Lncn left. They were threatening and frightening enough to the archaeologists remaining on Akher that they have purchased weapons and gone through Ratihinaconaxemuwezo training just in case the Uralians come back.

And this visit by Uralians (who are obviously part of the assassination plot) means there is more than just our one (dead) assassin doing the Leader's bidding for this task. We may be fighting a squad if not an army.

It is sad... Uralians used to be known across the Galaxy for being pleasant. Now they are acting like bullies.

The Lunars have increased their monitoring of Lunar space. They don't want to start PATROLLING their space; they are still concerned that Earth might be monitoring their Moon, and even though the Lunar population is exclusively on the non-Earth side of the Moon, the Earthers might detect them. And, similarly, they refuse to accept the Gilgot offer of patrols around the populated side of Luna. The Lunars are not certain that the Earthers are a danger to them, but they don't want to risk it. They have always had hard and fast rules about how transports approach Lunar docking ports to minimize what Earthers might detect, and they are not going to relax those rules now.

And I am constantly grateful that no one is suggesting the obvious solution: why don't you, Ptsgbw, just return to Lia? Presumably the Uralians would leave Luna alone if I were not here.

But, I like it here, and I don't want the Leader to be able to declare such a victory.

Apparently, the Lunars don't either.

So far...

I cannot believe that such a weak and unimportant planet as Uralia is can cause so much trouble. Why can't their Leader just try to improve the quality of life for Uralians on their new planet? Why can't he focus on building water recycling plants and atmospheric adjustment plants? Why can't he encourage Uralians to come up with ways to support themselves other than SafeGuard profits? Why can't he just concentrate on making Uralia great again? Why does he demand vengeance for a perceived insult: that the Lian system did not immediately curl up and die without his leadership?

We monitor the Galactic News on our coms like addicts.

***

It's not 3 in the morning, but I get a com call from Dnhns. From her tone, she is obviously trying to be soothing. This, of course, makes me more nervous than ever. She is skirting some important issue. I hope the kids are all right! Finally she comes out with it: Vldšng, my friend who dumped me almost two years ago to "follow the Leader" was the one who told Uralian security where I was, that they could lure me out of hiding using my kids, and where my kids were.

I am devastated; but I am also REALLY angry. She put my kids in danger! And she is also putting a whole bunch of innocent Lunars in danger... and why? WHY??

I ask Dnhns if Vldšng had given the Uralian Government information about any of the other SafeGuard Directors.

She mumbles but finally admits she thinks not. Apparently this information she has shared with me comes from Lzyrnl herself. Not only a Lian Government Representative, Lzyrnl is also on the Security Committee and has access to reports from Lian spies on Uralia. These spies are very specific in their reports that the threat is to me and my family. Only.

I am so puzzled and confused.

Why does Vldšng hate me? ME specifically? Dnhns and Lzyrnl had tried to talk to her before she was repatriated to the new Uralia. They tried to dissuade her from so religiously following the Leader; I never did that - I wasn't on Lia4 at that time; I was on Luna - and in my communications with Vldšng, having been told by Dnhns of her loyalty to the Leader, I had tried to steer carefully away from politics.

In my memory, our conversations centered around music, dancing, the weather (or lack of it on Luna and how they now have it on the new Uralia), shows she was doing (she is a popular entertainer), how boring it was to be an Ambassador, differences between Luna and Lia4 and the new Uralia...

But, I'm sure she knew, or at least suspected, that I did not feel about the Leader as she did.

And, somehow, unbelievably (to me), it is ME that she hates and is helping to get assassinated! And endangering my kids!

I think long and hard but cannot think of anything in our interaction that would lead me to expect this. I had thought we were friends... GOOD friends...

And now, it seems, from her perspective we are not only not friends, we are ENEMIES.

And I am to be executed.

I obviously have no ability to judge whether someone is a friend or not. I cannot trust my feelings at all.

I set down the com, probably staring blankly at the wall. Clmntr pats my hand. My Guardian pats my other hand.

I wonder how long before these "friends" will be arranging to have me assassinated?

Is anyone REALLY my friend?

***

I miss the stars.

Not, of course, that they are REAL stars; they are the simulated stars mimicking the Lunar sky, projected across the Luna City sky each night using the lights that mimic daylight during the 12-hour "day" and the changing star patterns during the 12-hour "night" that keeps the Lunars circadian rhythms working properly on Luna.

These stars may not be real, but I always enjoy looking at them.

I miss them...

I could peek at them from my apartment window, but my Guardian would disapprove: an assassin could be lurking outside and shoot me through the window.

We used to go up and have "picnics" on the large, flat, stone Embassy roof. That was a perfect spot for "star gazing," although the stars seemed suspiciously close. And it was always warm, because warm air rises through the cavern that contains Luna City. Now, we cannot go there either because of fear of drones.

And all of this because of Vldšng!

OK, the Uralians would have found out I was on Luna eventually; it's hardly a secret.

But my ex-friend made it so much easier for them!

Clmntr has a battery-powered "candle" that projects "sun faces" on the table. The Lunars (who like to anthropomorphize everything) put faces on images of their star (the "Sun") or even the Moon - Luna. While the images are not realistic depictions of astronomical bodies, I find Clmntr's candle to be charming and soothing and a good-enough replacement for the stars.

I stare at it while my com is playing the latest news vid.

***

Coming from Lia4, another excavated "cave planetoid" like Luna, I don't get claustrophobia. Although I would enjoy a nice visit to the Park to see the trees. Even a meeting at the Smedley Center sounds appealing. Not claustrophobia... just boredom.

We actually have gone to a couple of meetings at Smedley, picked up and conveyed in a secured Lunar Government Official vehicle and escorted by Law Enforcement and then being guarded by armed Lunar Military troops during the meeting.

And armed guards really are distracting during a meeting, especially since our meetings are hardly riveting entertainment to begin with...

It might actually be safe for Clmntr to go outside of our fortress-Embassy, but the Gilgot are concerned they might kidnap her or Lnbršr to try to lure me out. So she gamely stays trapped inside with me, giving up her favorite hobby: bird watching. Coming from the old Uralia2 (now Lia2) she, too, is used to living in a cave, although a much larger and Plush-ier cave than Lia4. My understanding is that, being the old Capital City, they even had HEAT in Lia2.

Lnbršr, on the other hand, is working with the Luna Security Services to monitor Lunar space. He goes out as needed. And as he desires.

And I think HE is quite safe. I would hate to be the assassin that tries to kidnap Lnbršr! There wouldn't be enough pieces of that assassin left to transport to the agricultural farms for fertilizer.

***

The Lunar Government has abandoned their listening post in our Offices for the present. With NOTHING going on, there is NOTHING to "listen to."

They'll come back if things heat up.

Our visitors, daily for a while, have also dwindled.

Dr. Madison comes on Mondays with her three kids for dinner (chicken nuggets, of course!) If her husband is free for a bit, he drops in, too. We enjoy socializing. My Guardian especially enjoys playing with baby Melissa. I think Dr. Madison was a little nervous about this interaction at first, but the Guardian is gentle and attentive. Dr. Madison seems more relaxed now. But, she still doesn't totally trust my Guardian with her baby!

Of course, I remain speechless about how un-Gilgot my Guardian seems to be! Was my previous Guardian this pleasant, and I was just too prejudiced against the Gilgot to see it?

On Wednesday afternoons, the Ambassadors come for a meeting. We never had Ambassadorial meetings before, but now we find them invaluable. We're getting to know the other Ambassadors much better than we ever did from weekly folk dancing or Smedley Center events. Of course, these meetings do not include the Ratihinaconaxemuwezo, who, although being our saviors patrolling the Lian Star System, prefer to remain aloof. And, needless to say, the Xx have not come to our new Offices since they accepted the bid to build 10 Destroyers for the Uralians to be used against us in their war.

After our meeting, we have a dinner catered by our food delivery service - this food service company caters ALL the Embassies and knows the food requirements and preferences of each species. They are trying to concoct a single food that we all would like. So far they have not succeeded. Later we go upstairs into our (now furniture-less, since it's all in the basement) Offices (guarded by the Front Door Guard and the Garage Door Guard), put on some music, and do folk dancing for a bit. I'm so glad we are doing that - of all the outside activities I miss, folk dancing comes second to star gazing.

But, reassuringly, the Gilgot Ambassadors are still the Gilgot I expect: they spend the time while we are dancing attacking and fighting each other. We often have to clean up Gilgot blood from our floors late Wednesday evenings.

Believe it or not, Yaeyeia's Aide has gotten so he will sit in the same room with my Guardian, even eat at the same table. He looks alert and nervous, but as time is passing, and she hasn't eaten him yet, he is becoming a bit more comfortable with the situation.

But he doesn't entirely trust my Guardian, either!

***

I think a lot about Vldšng. I dreamt the other night that I hugged her twice. I trust my dreams, but I don't know what it means, or if it means anything at all.

I toy with the idea that someday she will want to be friends again. Yes, I am a stupid optimist! But I could never trust her again. And friends should be able to trust one another.

I think about the Xx. Their betrayal is not quite as personal as Vldšng's, but could I ever trust them either? Knowing that they are friends only so long as they don't have a contract that I feel precludes our friendship?

But I look at Clmntr and Lnbršr. I would trust them with my life. Actually, I DO trust them with my life every day.

And Yaeyeia. I trust her implicitly. And yet, as a plant, she should be one of the beings I would least be able to know.

And, if I was so wrong about Vldšng, one of my own species, how can I be sure about an Oeyian?

And yet, I am. I trust her forever.

And I am also certain that I can trust several Lunars: Wan and Juan, Dr. Madison and Lt. Forbes. Our shaman.

I even trust my Guardian! As long as she IS my Guardian, her sense of duty will protect me from her hungrier Gilgot instincts. In the meantime, I try to keep her well-fed.

***

It is, as usual, 3:00 in the morning. My com buzzes frantically. Kitty moves begrudgingly off my foot to the end of the perch and glares at me.

With war always looming in the background, I am sleeping like Kitty: with one eye open. "Accept call," I can say clearly.

It is an announcement from Commander Brnsnd:

At 5 hours this morning, an Uralian Destroyer shot at the Ratihinaconaxemuwezo Destroyer patrolling the Lian system. The Uralian vessel has been destroyed...

"Hmm," I think. "They only had two Destroyers left. Now they have only one. They REALLY need to stop attacking more powerful vessels."

The Ratihinaconaxemuwezo have formally declared war on Uralia...

I sit bolt upright up on my perch. "Omigosh!" I have adopted this Lunar term as my own. "Omigosh! Uralia is DOOMED! They are going to be obliterated!"

The Uralians were a peaceful species when they were living in what is now the Lian system. After all, what warlike species would want to attack a system where the star is expanding and destroying everything in its path? But they have grown warlike since migrating to their new planet. Still, they have not concurrently become well-equipped or well-trained in the skills they need for this new ideology.

We await Uralian response to this formal declaration.

Clmntr is also studying her com in dismay. She looks up at me. "They are our species," she asserts.

I nod.

"They are trying to obliterate the Lian system, but they are our species!"

I nod.

"They are trying to assassinate you, and kidnap Lnbršr and me, but THEY ARE OUR SPECIES!"

I nod.

"Damn!"

Clmntr has adopted some Lunar-isms, too.

***

The Uralian leader issues a statement (obviously written by his staff; his writing style tends to be rambling like his speeches) assuring the Ratihinaconaxemuwezo that: Oops! Just a mechanical problem with our (now molecular-ized) Destroyer. No hostility meant!

I notice that, as usual, they do not apologize or admit they were wrong.

The Ratihinaconaxemuwezo issue a carefully-worded statement on the order of: "OK for now. We'll see." The do NOT rescind the declaration of war.

The Leader makes a speech blaming disloyal and incompetent Lian technicians on Uralia and disloyal and incompetent Lian officers on the Destroyer for the "mechanical problems." He threatens loss of "privileges" for Lian "subjects" of Uralia. Apparently it is true: Lians are "subjects" of Uralia, not "citizens." They have "privileges" not "rights."

We know that Lians on Uralia are NOT allowed to serve in the Uralian military, so they cannot possibly have been officers on the destroyed Destroyer. Probably they are not even allowed to be technicians.

Our spies report ethnic Lians on Uralia cannot work in professions funded by the Uralian Government. On Uralia, Lians who are teachers can teach ONLY Lian students at special Lian (non-Government-funded) schools. Lian doctors can treat ONLY Lian patients in non-Government-funded Lian clinics. Lian lawyers can represent ONLY Lian clients, and all official papers they file must be signed by a Uralian. They cannot plead cases in the courts. Lians cannot own land or property.

It is hard to imagine how many more "privileges" the Lians can lose.

The Leader has a not-formally-declared war on Lians on Uralia.

Except, apparently, Vldšng.

Perhaps she is just trying to survive in this hostile environment?

***

The "war," now expanded to officially include the Ratihinaconaxemuwezo, returns to boredom.

Representatives forming the Lian Government decide that a leader-like being is necessary during these war conditions. Commander Brnsnd would be a popular choice, but he is busy liaising with the Ratihinaconaxemuwezo and trying to create a Lian Defense Force.

Lncn, having been the Ambassador to three planets, is felt to be the Lian most experienced in dealing with non-Lian Governments and is nominated by the Representatives for the position.

She thinks it is a bad (but necessary) idea and accepts (reluctantly.)

But Lncn has always been a quiet and private person. No one has heard of her. The Government initiates a program to make "Lncn" a name recognized and respected by all Lians. Her name, picture, and biography are suddenly on every NewsCom broadcast. She is interviewed on all of the popular talkvids. Her favorite foods are highlighted on cooking vids. Furniture stores feature "her favorite" perch. Docs and vids brag that she is a subscriber.

Lians begin to rally around the idea of this new position and Lncn to fill it.

But, what is this position to be called? "Leader" is a non-starter, for obvious reasons.

"Chief?" "Head?" "Boss?"

Lncn suggests "Speaker." "I will speak for the Lian citizens to the Representatives. I will speak for the Representatives to the citizens. I will speak for the Lians to the Galaxy," she says in a memorable address.

***

So I am buddies with the Speaker, a Representative (Lzyrnl), and a Judge (Frdjkn). With such powerful friends... remind me... why am I cowering in a basement?

The door buzzer sounds, and my Guardian goes to investigate. The door opens. Yaeyeia greets my Guardian and rolls in followed by her Aide (scooting as far from my Guardian as he possibly can.)

"Hi, Ptsgbw. Hi, Clmntr. Hi, Lnbršr. Hi, Wan. Hi, Juan. Hi, Kitty," she greets us.

"Hi, Yaeyeia," we respond. "Hi, Kevin." The Aide nods and sits on a people-chair. Kitty hops on his lap.

"We brought nuggets!" Yaeyeia announces. Now I see why Kitty is being so friendly to her Aide. She doesn't actually LIKE nuggets, but she THINKS she does and always comes to investigate.

Seated around the pool table with these good friends, in our nice, safe basement (now with an easy-access elevator and just-outside-the-door plumbing) I decide that while I may technically be "cowering," it's not so bad after all.